COTABATO CITY — – President Rodrigo Roa Duterte led the 1st ceremonial distribution of land titles in the Bangsamoro region on Monday, December 23 at the Bangsamoro Government Center in Cotabato City.
685 Certificate of Land Ownership Awards (CLOAs), covering a total area of 1,742.6 hectares, were given to 793 Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries (ARB) from the provinces of Maguindanao, Basilan, and Tawi-Tawi.
Furthermore, under the BARMM’s Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Agrarian Reform’s (MAFAR) Post Land Distribution Program, 93 individual CLOAs – as a result of subdividing previously-issued Collective CLOAs – were also awarded to 89 ARBs. The certificates covered a total area of 238.9 hectares.
Ten (10) of the beneficiaries were former members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) combatants whose main source of livelihood are farming.
In his speech, Duterte discouraged the beneficiaries to sell the lands awarded to them.
“There will come a time na lahat ng lupa sa mundo ay mayroon nang may-ari,” he said. “Mahalin mo yang lupa mo, trabahuin mo. Tutulungan kita.”
Duterte also said, “yung dream ninyo na palakihin (ang BARMM), andito ako para mag-alalay. So organize the (Bangsamoro) government as a working government.”
“You come up with good policies, to enhance the dignity. Matagal nang nawala yan eh. You have lost it for so many years. Now is the time for the Moro people to regain their dignity,” he added.
Meanwhile, Bangsamoro Chief Minister Ahod ‘Al Haj’ Murad Ebrahim said the distribution of CLOAs was “geared towards providing support to the implementation of Agrarian Reform Programs in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.”
He mentioned it was also “a shared venture that aims to have a direct impact to our people where majority relies on agriculture as a source of livelihood.”
“With our symbolic land distribution program today, we can assure our dear partners from the national government that we will tap into these resources to reenergize our economic potentials and contribute to the national growth as well,” Ebrahim said.
The distribution of CLOAs aimed to provide tenurial security to landless farmers through ownership over the lands then have been cultivating for years, open opportunities for further agricultural intervention to the new landowners, and to alleviate the quality of life of small-scale farmers by gearing them for economic viability and self-reliance.-Bureau of Public Information
